City Hall workers were making their final preparations prior to moving from their location at 11th and Massachusetts to the new First National Bank office tower at 9th and Mass. The fate of the old city hall, formerly the Watkins Bank Building, was still up in the air. Mrs. Elizabeth Watkins had left the building to the city with the stipulation that it always be used for city offices. Her will stated that in the event of the city’s vacating the building, the property would revert to nine residual beneficiaries of the Watkins estate. All of these were organizations, and so far, about three of them had given approval to the building being used as a civic center of some sort.

At a public hearing on the design of proposed highway improvements, most attendees agreed with the idea to improve the road leading south out of Lawrence but complained about plans to acquire additional land for the portion between Shank Hill and the city limits. The Kansas State Highway Department was planning to acquire the land from the west side of the right-of-way, but residents argued that fewer persons would be affected by taking land from the east side.